A short while ago I had to have the windscreen replaced so out came autoglass. Sadly insurance wouldn’t pay for pilkington so I got whatever cheap bit of glass was provided.

I soon noticed after it was changed that the headlights were coming on a lot more often, including when you really wouldn’t expect eg bright sunlight. It seemed quite random though as sometimes the lights behaved as expected. Wipers were unaffected.

So out came autoglass again (same person!) and before trying to change the glass they changed the sticky gel pad that holds the sensor in place. It had been replaced when the screen was done the first time but they replaced it anyway. Sure enough, that didn’t make any difference so he got on the phone to the technical team.

After 5 minutes or so on hold, they told him to try turning the ignition on, switching the lights to off, turning off the ignition and then locking up the car and leaving it for 5 minutes. Then once the time was up, ignition on, lights to auto and that should perform some sort of recalibration.

I was sceptical but it did actually work and for the last few weeks since doing that the headlights have behaved as expected. As it wasn’t a solution I had found on here, I thought I would post in case it helps out anyone else. Car is a L322 2010 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography.

Last edited by Full-fat-Lance on 25th Feb 2024 5:52pm. Edited 1 time in total

This is very interesting. I wonder if there's a similar reset for the auto wipers? Since having a new screen (also Autoglass cheapo, ok they're not cheap but you know what I mean) I've had problems. When the screen was first replaced the auto wipers didn't work at all, so the screen was replaced again, initially this didn't fix the issue but a replacement sensor seemed to sort it out, except it didn't, not fully. The auto wipers now work sometimes but not always which seems really odd to me as they obviously do work.

Any ideas? Drives:
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue - Stornoway Grey
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue SE - Zermatt Silver
1998 BMW E36 M3 GTII

Hi, I had similar with wipers after a screen replacement, they just went completely random, not working when it was raining and then on a dry sunny day they'd sweep every hour or so for no reason that I could fathom.

Tried everything, allIi can think of is that they were flakey beofre the screen and maybe different material in the new one just sent it over the edge.

In the end I just pulled the fuse so it reverts back to intermittant with speed controlled by the stalk. OK, so I lost the auto lights, but to be honest, I have the lights on all the time anyway now much happier and much more reliable. Fuji White / Jet 2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster